Handling Stress the Jesus Way -
April 29, 2007
Pastor Paul W Newell

W.W.J.S.

What Would Jesus Stress?

Handling Stress The Jesus Way

“Reality is the leading cause of stress among those in touch with it.” (Lily Tomplin)

Got stress? It’s impossible to live life without stress.

Stress in inevitable. Help me out here, what are some of the causes of stress in our lives?

Anyone here living without stress?  Some people seem to thrive on stress. “Bring it on baby!!!”

This week I did a little research on stress and came up with the following reasons why some people love stress. This is from De Anza College (Cupertino, CA)

It’s entitled: How to Stay Stressed...

• Although the De Anza Health Office long been an advocate of stress management, stress, tension, and burnout are still common complaints of students, faculty, and staff alike. On account of this, we have come to the following conclusion:
  YOU ALL WANT TO STAY STRESSED!
  The following provides you with a few reasons why.
• 
  1. STRESS HELPS YOU SEEM IMPORTANT.
  Anyone as stressed as you must be working very hard and, therefore, is probably doing something very crucial.
• 
  2. IT HELPS YOU TO MAINTAIN PERSONAL SPACE
  Anyone as busy as you are certainly can't be expected to form emotional attachments to anyone. And let's face it; you're not much fun to be around anyway.
• 
  3. IT HELPS YOU AVOID RESPONSIBILITIES.
  Obviously you're too stressed to be given any more work. This gets you off the hook for all the mundane chores; let someone else take care of them.
• 
  4. IT GIVES YOU A CHEMICAL RUSH.
  Stress might be considered a cheap thrill, and you can give yourself "hit" anytime you choose. But be careful, you might get addicted to your own adrenaline.
• 
  5. IT HELPS YOU AVOID SUCCESS.
  Why risk being "successful" when by simply staying stressed you can avoid all of that? Stress can keep your performance level low enough that success won't ever be a threat.
• 
  6. STRESS ALSO LETS YOU [BE A BULLY].
  The bully style of "Just do what I say!" is generally permissible under crisis conditions. If you maintain a permanently stressed crisis atmosphere, you can justify being a buly all the time.

I’m sorry, but that’s not the kind of stress I want in my life!
The truth is, though, that stress isn’t all bad.
We talk about being “stressed out” and living too stress-filled lives, but I don’t think it would surprise any of us to know that a certain amount of stress is necessary for a healthy live.

The answer is learning what to do with stress; how to handle stress.

How to handle stress the way Jesus did.

What Would Jesus Stress? How Would Jesus Handle Stress.

I love this quote from Wayde Goodall’s book, “WHY GREAT MEN FALL”.

“Great men fall when they break under pressure. You do not need to break. You do not need to give up or give in to pressure. God can give you the [grace] to keep you in mental control. ..“When you have exhausted your mental and emotional resources, you can no longer rely on yourself. You simply have to trust something; someone stronger, wiser, and smarter than yourself. God...”  (pg.127)

Here’s the point. Here’s the key to dealing with the pressures in your life – both good and bad stress – handle it the way Jesus handled His stress.
I think I know what you’re thinking: “Jesus?...Stress...Jesus was God, how did He have stress?

Hebrews 4:15 tells us, “for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.”

Jesus was God, but He was also man – perfect God and perfect man, and as a perfect man Jesus faced every temptation and struggle that you and I face – stress included.

In fact the Gospel of Mark tells us that there were times when Jesus was under so much stress and pressure than He didn’t even have time to eat...or sleep...sound familiar?

Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone. Mark 6:31 - 32 (NLT)

Even Jesus knew enough to get away once in a while!

So, how did Jesus handle stress...      

First, HE KNEW WHO HE WAS

The first key to handling stress is to... Know who you are!

Look at the Gospel of John chapter eight:

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12)

At least eighteen times in the New Testament Jesus declared who He was.

Jesus knew who He was.

In John 6 – Jesus declared He was the BREAD OF LIFE
In John 7 – Jesus declared He was FROM GOD
In John 8 – Jesus declared He was the LIGHT OF THE WORLD
In John 8 – Jesus declared He was eternal, “Before Abraham was, I AM.”
In John 10 – Jesus declared He was the DOOR
In John 10 – Jesus declared He was the GOOD SHEPHERD
In John 10 – Jesus declared He was the SON OF GOD
In John 11 – Jesus declared He was the RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE
In John 14 – Jesus declared He was the THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE
In John 14(11) – Jesus declared He was the in the Father
In John 15 – Jesus declared He was the VINE
In John 17 – Jesus declared He was NOT OF THIS WORLD

Get it? Jesus knew who He was and as a result He did not allow the pressure to fit into other people’s molds stress Him.

If you don’t know who you are – other people will tell you. If you don’t have a good idea of who you are in Jesus you will feel the stress to conform to others.

That’s why the Apostle Paul told us in Romans chapter twelve,

Do not change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect. Romans 12:2

Do you want to know who you are? Listen to this:

WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST  
(Adapted from Victory over the Darkness, Neil Anderson)

Here’s the point:

When you know who you are – you don’t have to be anyone else – that relieves a lot of stress and pressure!

Got Stress? Live out who you are!

How did Jesus handle stress...                       

Second, JESUS KNEW WHERE HE WAS GOING

The second key to handling stress is to... Know where you are going.

In John chapter eight Jesus said,

“For I know where I came from and where I am going...” (John 8:14)

Jesus had His eyes on the prize. He knew where He was headed. He understood His ultimate purpose. Nothing was going to sidetrack Him from His purpose.

It’s way to easy to get sidetracked in this life, isn’t it? There are a lot of distractions in this world that can get our eyes off the prize, the goal.

That’s why the Apostle Paul wrote,

“...aim at what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. 2Think only about the things in heaven, not the things on earth. 3Your old sinful self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God. 4Christ is our life, and when he comes again, you will share in his glory.” Colossians 3:1-4

You want to handle the stress in your life – learn to keep your eyes on the prize, the goal.

So what’s the goal?

The problem that causes a lot of our stress is that we’re looking at the wrong goal! The goal is not stuff. The goal is what other people thing of us.

The goal is not financial security.

The goal is heaven – eternity. We’re not working for this world – we’re working for what comes next.

Jesus’ entire life was focused on ONE WEEKEND! That one weekend He would be crucified, sacrificed as the ultimate payment for the sins of this world. That one weekend He would spend three days dead in a grave, a cold tomb. And at the close of that weekend Jesus would rise from the dead and conquer sin and dead.

But why that one weekend, because that one weekend was all about eternity and what was coming after that weekend.

We live this life – one day at a time – but we’re living it for what’s next. We get, maybe, seventy years here on earth – but we get forever in eternity. Make no mistake, what we do now effects what happens next.

If you keep that in mind – it will be a lot easier to decide which things you should be doing and which you should be avoiding. That’s pretty stress relieving!

Jesus knew who He was and He knew where He was going.

You want to handle the stresses and pressures in your life – understand who you are and where you are going!

One more...

How did Jesus handle stress...   

Third, JESUS KNEW HOW TO TAKE TIME

The third key to handling stress is to... Know how to take time.

I want you to circle the word take on your outline. That’s a very important term.

You see – all of us have the same amount of time. Time is the great equalizer in this world. Everyone of us has exactly the same amount of time.  Trump has the same about of time as Newell. You have the same about of time as Newell.

7/24. We’ve all got seven days and twenty-four hours in each of those seven days. 1,440 minutes and 86,400 seconds.

The key to dealing with the stress of time is TAKING TIME.

In this life everyone and everything wants to steal your time. TV will steal your time. Internet will steal your time. People can steal your time. Stuff can steal your time. Worry can steal your time.

There are thousands and thousands of people and things that want to steal your time.

The key is TAKING YOUR TIME. Take it back. Don’t let other people and stuff have your time without deliberately giving it to them.
Look at how Jesus took His time...

Early the next morning, while it was still dark, Jesus woke and left the house. He went to a lonely place, where he prayed. Simon and his friends went to look for Jesus. When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you!” Mark 1:35 - 37 (NCV)

Do you get that? Even though there were people to see and places to go, Jesus took His time – to spend time when the One that mattered most – The Heavenly Father.

Jesus always took time to talk to God the Father, first.

After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. Matthew 14:23

At one point Jesus even sent everyone away so He could take the time to pray!

Crowds of people were coming and going so that Jesus and his followers did not even have time to eat. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves, and we will go to a lonely place to get some rest.” Mark 6:31

Jesus took the time to pray and to rest. You should do the same!

What we need to do is take time! We need to take back the time that everyone and everything is stealing and invest that time in the one thing that will have the greatest stress relieving effect on our lives – take time to spend with God.

Here is a great stress reliever...ready?

TALK TO GOD FIRST.

Are you feeling pressure? Don’t yell or scream or cry or whatever on someone else - talk to God first!

Talk to God first and then take time to listen!

On other thing about taking time.

Learn to take time for yourself. That’s the point of our first verse this morning:

“Come away by yourselves, and we will go to a lonely place to get some rest.” (Mark 6:31)

It’s called MARGIN! You and I need to build margins into our lives.

Time with God, quiet time alone talking and listening to God helps create that margin, but you also need to take time for yourself.
Whatever it takes – take time for yourself.

Burnout and bad decisions are the result of no margin.

Burnout and bad decisions equal stress.

Think of it this way: if you don’t take time for a break you’ll end up taking time for a breakdown.

Learn how to take time with God, then learn to take time for yourself.

Warning: If you take time for yourself without taking time for God as well, you will end up just making more stress for yourself. Time with God allows you to gain perspectives that empower the time you take for yourself.

This past weekend Terrie and I practiced this. We went off by ourselves to take time. But we also took along some “homework”. We took time to listen to several talks on strengthening our own marriage relationship. The time we took to listen to God allowed us to really make sense out of our time with each other.

Got stress?

Have you been feeling overwhelmed?

Learn from the Master Himself...He carried the weight of the entire world on His shoulders, yet was never stressed out.

You and I...stress...

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